Two very special guests from the School of Business Administration give some much-needed wake up calls about the rigor of college courses and the importance of understanding a syllabus. Professors Jeff & Cindy Baker remind us that your AUS faculty are approachable humans, excited to welcome new students to the [remote] campus.
Resources Mentioned:
App for accessing your iLearn account
Host: Welcome to FYE Chats, an AUS podcast. I’m your host, Erica Payne. University is a BIG transition that can be a little overwhelming. We invite you to listen in on candid conversations with the AUS community because we want to see you THRIVE as you begin your First Year Experience.
On this week’s show, I have the absolute pleasure of speaking with two dear friends of mine and respected professors in the School of Business Administration. Welcome to the show, Jeff and Cindy!
Guests: Thanks for having me, it’s a pleasure to work with the FYE Program
Host: Let me give you some background on our guests. Cindy is originally from Texas in the USA and has spent half of her career teaching at AUS and half working in industry. She definitely prefers college teaching because she loves students and the interactions with students. Jeff is also from Texas, and loves coffee. In fact, he and Cindy only came to AUS because there’s a Starbucks on campus - it’s a great story, ask them to tell you sometime. They have worked at AUS for 11 years!
Cindy and Jeff, you’ve certainly interacted with a lot of AUS-ers in your time here!
Cindy: We have, and at this point we’ve been around long enough to have students come back to campus and introduce us to their children! We’ve also seen many former students who have been promoted in their jobs, passed professional certification exams, and even come back to AUS to give guest lectures in our classes.
Host:This episode is actually going to be released on the first day of classes, when most students will receive their syllabus from their professors. Can you tell us a little bit about what information students might find on a course syllabus?
Cindy: A course syllabus is a wealth of information. I think of particular importance are:
Host:That’s great. The syllabus definitely covers quite a bit of information. And it isn’t just for the first day! It is important that students refer to it regularly. Most of the time, professors will upload their syllabus to iLearn and you can access it easily through the Blackboard app, which I’ll link to the show-notes. If a student has questions that are not answered by the syllabus, what do you suggest they do?
Jeff: Visit the professor in office hours, that’s exactly why we have office hours. I’ll add something here, for me, I prefer that you come to my office hours rather than stopping me after class. After class is chaotic, and I cannot always give you as much time as you might want. Plus, it might be that I need to prepare for another class.
Come to my office, I can answer any questions you have, and we can chat and get to know one another.
Host: Actually, I’m so glad you mentioned professor office hours! For the first-year student, this is probably an unfamiliar concept. Could you share a little more? What does this look like on campus and how does it translate to an online environment?
Jeff: Office hours are a block of time that the professor has committed to being available for students. If we’re on campus, the professor has committed to being in his or her office during office hours. If we’re online, the professor has committed to being available online then. It’s not necessary to make an additional appointment during office hours.
It’s also a time just to meet your professor and talk with him or her. One of my former students - Louiza - she was in my class about 2 years ago - she likes to drop by periodically just to chat - about what books she’s reading, about films, politics, football, or whatever. I’ve learned a lot about her, her interests, and her home country - and she’s learned about me as well.
Host: I love that office hours can be a time where students build connections with their professors! What are some other helpful habits that support student success?
Jeff: [Jeff’s story about first week at UT]
This may sound basic, but (1) attending class, (2) taking notes, (3) completing any assigned reading or video when it’s scheduled [rather than doing them all right before the exam]. I’ll add (4) pick responsible teammates for group projects [not always your friends].
Host: If you’re listening, asking about helpful habits for success is something you can ask all your professors because it could be a little bit different for every class! Thanks for that insight, Jeff and Cindy.
Host: Before we close the show, I’d like to end with a few questions that we ask all of our guests. First, What is your favorite part of the AUS campus?
Cindy: There are two places that I love - the drive into campus from the front gate, when the water fountains are on and the sky is blue - it’s magical. I’m thankful that I get to work in a place so beautiful. The other place I like is the coffee shop in the business building. I always see people I know there, it’s great to see students studying or hanging out with their friends, it’s just a really social place.
[Jeff - Starbucks - story of getting to AUS]
Host: Do you have an embarrassing moment while teaching or living on campus?
Cindy: Yes! You should know that when it rains, the tiles on campus get incredibly slick!
Jeff: I tore a hole in my trousers on the corner of the whiteboard one day right before class began. A good-sized one - maybe 4-5cm. Right on my bum. Fortunately, I was wearing a suit that day and I could put on my jacket to cover the hole.
Host: Lastly, what is one piece of advice you’d like to share with our first-years listening, especially as they enter into their first semester in a remote setting?
Cindy: College is the next level so you need to give it more effort. If you were an A student in high school, and you give AUS the same effort, you’ll be a B student at best at AUS. If you were a B student in high school, you’ll, at best, be a C student at AUS. I think you get the idea. If you show up to AUS and give it the same effort you gave in high school, I’m afraid you might be disappointed.
At AUS you’ll need much more preparation than you’ve needed in the past, classes are fast paced and they are intense. Come to class prepared, don’t wait until the last minute.
Host:That is extremely helpful advice. I actually have a follow up question for you- About how much time should new students spend studying for courses?
Cindy: That is a great question! The general rule is that for every hour you spend in class, you should spend three hours outside of class preparing and studying. For example, most classes, whether UTR or MW, have you in class three hours a week. That means you should be studying nine hours for each class, each week.
And I will build on that idea - if your exam is in week 6 of the semester, then you’ve had 15 hours of class before that exam. That means you should have spent 135 hours, thats 15*9, studying. There is no way you can cram that much into the night before the exam! So you must, must, must, study the material as it is discussed in class.
Host: We have a variety of workshops to help college students develop study skills for university level courses. I’ll link those in the show notes.
Jeff and Cindy, with the semester quickly approaching, we know it is a busy season for our AUS professors. Thank you so much for making time to join us on the show today!
Cindy: Thanks for having us! We look forward to having you in our classes in the future.
Closing-
Host: I hope you enjoyed hearing from Professor Jeff and Cindy today. We’ll link the resources mentioned to our show notes. If you found this information helpful, we would love for you to hear your feedback! Leave us a review on Apple podcasts or post a comment on the @ausfye instagram page.
Hope you enjoyed hearing from Jeff and Cindy Today.
Thanks so much for listening to the show. See you next time, on FYE Chats.